tonigh tonight, breaking developments in the coronavirus emergency here in the u.s. president trump set to address the nation tonight. the world health organization now declaring a global pandemic. saying, quote, "we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and the alarming levels of inaction around the world." here in the u.s., the death toll growing. and the sobering words from dr. anthony fauci, saying the coronavirus is ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu. tonight, the national guard moving in to mark that first containment zone outside new york city. and in boston, the number of cases tied to one conference growing. the emergency unfolding in washington state. relatives looking through the windows of nursing homes to see their loved ones. at least ten nursing homes with patients now testing positive.

seattle closing schools for more than 53,000 students. more than 1,200 schools nationwide shutting down. and there is news coming in tonight that the ncaa tournament will be now be held without fans. the breaking headline on wall street tonight. the dow falling into its first bear market in more than a decade. plunging more than 1,400 points. we're live. frustration growing. doctors and health officials in the u.s. say they don't have the tests they need. the white house promising 4 million tests by the end of the week. so tonight, a reality check. and how were the chinese and south korea able to test far more quickly? breaking news from italy. the dramatic new steps just in as the death toll worsens. and why global health officials say everyone should be taking what's happening in italy very seriously. the other news. harvey weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison to cheers in the courtroom. and a major night for joe biden.

several victories. and today, the unexpected message from bernie sanders. good evening. it's great to have you with us on this wednesday night. we begin with the coronavirus outbreak in the u.s. and around the world. the world health organization now declaring it a global pandemic. citing the alarming levels of spread and also the alarming levels of inaction. president trump set to address the nation tonight from the oval office. the death toll rising in the u.s. to 36, 3 deaths just today. more than 1,100 cases reported in 41 states. three more states added just today. 18 states declaring states of emergency. dr. anthony fauci warning that the coronavirus is ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu. and that the outbreak is going to get worse, and that we're vulnerable to shortages.

tonight, the national guard moving in. cleaning crews moving in with them to that containment zone. in boston, the number of cases tied to the one conference growing. at least 77 cases now testing positive. and news coming in tonight, among the major events cancelled or changed, the ncaa tournament to be played without fans. and the president addressing the nation tonight. the president acknowledging among other things the need to address the anticipated shortage of respirators in this fight. whit johnson leads us off again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, for the first time in more than a decade, the world health organization is declaring a global pandemic. >> pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. >> reporter: with thousands killed in more than 100 countries, on 6 continents, the novel coronavirus now meeting that grim definition. sustained worldwide spread of a

new disease, person to person, impacting large numbers of people. >> we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction. >> reporter: on capitol hill today, the nation's leading infectious disease expert issuing this dire warning. >> it is ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu. i think that's something that people can get their arms around and understand. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci telling lawmakers that the virus will continue to spread. but how bad it gets will depend on how governments respond. >> we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now. bottom line, it's going to get worse. >> reporter: it got worse fast for clay bentley, a retired officer from rome, georgia, who was sent home from an urgent care after a flu test came back negative. >> over the next four days, i got really bad. >> reporter: he called the hospital and finally got tested

for the virus. positive for covid-19. he's now worried about his family getting it. >> i just assumed i had the flu. no energy, hard time breathing, aching all over. cold chills, fevers. i have had the flu before but i have never felt this bad. >> reporter: infections in massachusetts more than doubling. with at least 70 cases connected to a conference held in boston last month. across the country, drastic measures. in new york, where the number of cases now tops 200, the national guard preparing for deployment in that so-called containment zone. a one-mile radius in new rochelle, north of manhattan. that cluster, home to the state's biggest outbreak, linked back to that new rochelle attorney, still in critical condition. today community groups prepping food for families, especially those with kids stuck at home. >> we're definitely hearing from some families that it is a hardship, we're providing some meals today.

>> reporter: nationwide, the virus has prompted more than 1,500 schools to close, impacting more than 1 million students. in the seattle area where the most americans have died from the virus, officials shutting down schools for 53,000 students and banning all events with 250 or more people. san francisco with a similar rule for any gathering over 1,000 people. the golden state warriors will play the brooklyn nets in an empty stadium tomorrow night. >> if that means not having any people in the audience where the nba plays, so be it. but as a public health official, anything that has large crowds is something that would give a risk to spread. >> reporter: and late today the ncaa announcing that the public will not be able to attend this year's march madness basketball tournament. and discussions currently under way about whether the city's parade, which draws roughly 2 million people each year, will be called off. >> and whit is back with us tonight from new rochelle.

dr. fauci was asked if the u.s. was facing shortages of medical supplies. here's what he said. >> i believe if we have a major outbreak, we're definitely vulnerable to shortages. >> the white house acknowledging that late today. and we're hearing from health officials around the country saying they may be facing a shortage of supplies and also of manpower in this fight. >> reporter: a senior financial official with hhs tells us a lot of the medical supplies come from overseas. they're worried about making sure health care workers have the proper masks and gear to treat infected patients. but they're now working with a variety of companies to try to boost supply. david? >> whit, thank you. also breaking tonight, not only the health toll but the economic toll mounting as well. the dow plunging again, the 11-year bull market ending. the dow falling steeply, down

nearly 6%. a loss of 20% from the record high just four weeks ago today. now in a bear market. let's get right to rebecca jarvis. rebecca? >> reporter: that's right, david. the dow is now down 20% from that record high hit just one month ago. meaning we're officially in a bear market with virtually every american industry impacted in some way by the coronavirus. some of the hardest hit are travel companies and small businesses. united airlines says they're expecting the biggest declines since 9/11. and that the declines could be two times as bad as those after september 11th. and a sobering statistic on wall street, the dow and s&p 500 have wiped out more than $5 trillion in value in just the last couple of weeks. >> sobering numbers tonight. rebecca, thank you. in washington state this evening, where at least 29 have died, the governor issuing a

series of mandates. including limiting visitors to nursing homes. tonight, images of families peering through windows to check on their loved ones. this resident visiting her son-in-law and daughter by phone. and in oakland, california, passengers are still coming off that cruise ship. taken to four sites in the u.s. matt gutman from california tonight. >> reporter: tonight, in the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus outbreak, the virus ferociously attacking the elderly. with seattle silenced and families left to peer into nursing homes for a glimpse at family members or blow kisses from afar, news that ten nursing homes and care centers now report cases of the virus. >> the grim reality is that for the elderly, covid-19 is almost a perfect killing machine. >> reporter: 22 of the state's 26 fatalities in the life care center alone. there, you can see workers from

a disaster recovery team in those hazmat suits entering the facility in an attempt to disinfect it. in the hopes of staving off more fatalities, washington governor jay inslee closing schools, banning groups of over 250, and warning those violating the bans. >> what are the penalties for not abiding by the ban? >> the penalties are, you might be killing your granddad if you don't do it. >> reporter: the governor saying the fatalities have mostly struck people who are both elderly and ill. and san francisco taking similar measures, banning groups of over 1,000 from congregating. and in nearby san jose at the airport, three tsa agents contracting the virus. 40 miles away in oakland, the grand princess still dockside, offboarding passengers for the third consecutive day. teams in hazmat suits processing them. so far, more than half of the passengers taken off. but some passengers say the

process has been too slow. >> nothing is happening again. >> let's get back to matt gutman. we saw something that drove home why officials say we must slow the spread of the disease. what many call the need to flatten the curve. there's a line through the middle, you see the red. the forecast if we don't take protective measures, that spike above the line are the people who would not be able to get into hospitals around the country. the blue, this is spread out over time, it keeps the number at least somewhat more manageable for hospitals. that's why authorities are trying to buy some time with what they call social distancing. for you and me, that means informing the public to try to stay away from crowds. >> reporter: that's right. they don't have therapeutics and vaccinations to flatten the curve. instead, they're banning crowds, closing schools, trying to avoid a lot of human contact.

they don't want the public health care system to be overwhelmed. but we are already seeing a faint glimmer of that. the president today warning he foresees a shortage in protective masks for health care workers. david? >> matt, thank you. tonight, frustration growing over testing for the virus in the u.s. president trump has said that everyone who needs to be tested can be tested. the vice president promising 4 million tests by the end of this week. but steve osunsami at the cdc with a reality check. >> reporter: this is how they're handling the need for coronavirus tests in colorado -- setting up drive-throughs to get people tested. but they still don't have enough for everyone. and you need a doctor's note to get one. all across the country, state health authorities say they don't have enough tests. the white house is saying that there's plenty. >> when people need a test, they can get a test. when the professionals need to test more people, they can get the tests.

>> over a million tests are out, thanks to the diligent work of cdc and hhs. more than 4 million will go out this week. >> reporter: in massachusetts they've declared a state of emergency. and dr. todd ellerin says he believes he has patients there who are sick with the coronavirus, but says he has no way to test them. >> right now, we're really limited. and the demand for testing far outweighs what the state's capacity is. >> reporter: in china, the w.h.o. says the government has given out at least 300,000 tests. in south korea, the government says they've administered more than 200,000 tests. but here in america, about 9,000 tests have been administered since the coronavirus first appeared stateside. >> new york state is gonna take matters into its own hands. we can't just wait anymore. it's compounding the problem. >> reporter: state health authorities say there are not

enough people, resources, or laboratories to process the amount of tests they're expecting to come in. >> steve, thank you. and dramatic new measures being revealed in italy, on top of what we've already reported. this is a live look at the johns hopkins tracking site. the virus now in more than 100 countries and territories. the most active hot spot right now is in italy. james longman with the story, authorities warning that officials around the world should take note. >> reporter: tonight, even more sacrifice for a country that's already lost so much. italy shutting down most businesses. 60 million citizens confined to their homes as much as possible. the prime minister announcing only pharmacies, banks, and supermarkets can stay open, urging people to change habits in order to beat the virus. 196 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

over 460 fatalities since monday. dr. giacomo graselli is on the front lines. >> it happened to us like a bomb, it exploded and all of a sudden you are overwhelmed by the patients. >> reporter: the country is entering its third day of a national lockdown and health experts are warning the u.s. >> it will be a tsunami, it will be eating all the country unless you take immediate action. otherwise it will be too little and too late. >> reporter: italian authorities announcing 10,000 desperately needed ventilators and 2 million masks are being shipped in from china. the virus is slowing in asia but has since hit at least 114 countries. today in germany, the chancellor warning up to 70% of the population could become infected. >> james longman joining us from self-quarantine in london. you will remember, he was asked by authorities to quarantine after returning from italy. we took note of that because in the u.s., people coming back are

telling several outlets they haven't been checked at all. very different from what happened to you in london. >> reporter: yeah, david. it sounds like a very different scenario. we were met off the plane by officials who handed us forms with the latest government advice. and that is that anyone returning from italy since march 9th needs to stay indoors. we weren't temperature checked, but we were screened when we left rome. >> james, thank you. and again, that late word today from the white house, that memo, president trump acknowledging among other things the need to address the anticipated shortage of medical equipment in this country. to deal with this, the president is set to address the nation tonight. let's get to jonathan karl. what have you learned about what the president plans to tell the american people? >> reporter: the president wants to offer reassurance that his administration is on top of this. he will look at both the public health effects, among the measures they're looking at are

further travel restrictions, and also on the economic impact, ways to get help to those most affected by this. i'm also told this has become the top priority at the white house. and that the president has brought in jared kushner, his son-in-law and his senior adviser, to be part of this. and he's been working with the president today on the speech he will deliver tonight. >> jon, thank you. abc news will carry the president's address live at 9:00 p.m. eastern. still ahead tonight on "world news tonight," a major night for joe biden overnight. several victories on mini super tuesday including the key battleground of michigan. and today, the unexpected message from bernie sanders. harvey weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison today. we'll have more. and dangerous thunderstorms, hail, and possible tornadoes,

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next tonight, the race for 2020. joe biden coming off a major night, winning several states on mini super tuesday including the key battleground of michigan. bernie sanders and his unexpected message today. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: bernie sanders today with a blunt admission. >> we are losing the debate over electability. i cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who have said, and i quote, "i like what your campaign stands for. i agree with what your campaign stands for. but i'm going to vote for joe biden because i think joe is the best candidate to defeat donald trump." >> reporter: but the vermont senator is not dropping out. >> on sunday, i very much look forward to the debate in arizona

with my friend joe biden. >> reporter: biden already sounding like the general election has begun. >> tonight, we are a step closer to restoring decency, dignity, and honor to the white house. that's our ultimate goal. >> mary, bottom line, bernie sanders, not dropping out. but he did signal as he fights a nearly impossible task of catching up to biden, he said he has a specific mission for sunday's debate? >> reporter: sanders says that joe biden has something to prove to his supporters. and he's going to ask him pointed questions about his agenda. what comes next for sanders is still unclear. but he was blunt today in admitting when you look at the delegate count, it was not a good night for his campaign. >> mary, thank you. when we come back, what happened in court today as harvey weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison. and we're tracking those severe storms right now. sentenced

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to the "index." harvey weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison today. the judge stopping just short of delivering the maximum punishment. weinstein was found guilty of criminal sex assault and third degree rape. there were cheers in the courtroom. one of his victims calling him a "special kind of evil." he plans to appeal. severe storms in parts of the south tonight. thunderstorms and hail in several states. strong storms hitting before dawn in newton, kansas. hail and winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour in arkansas. our weather team tracking the storm stretching from texas to kentucky tomorrow, with damaging winds, hail, and possible tornadoes. and we'll be right back tonight. t back tonight.

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safety, this is abc 7 news. good evening, thanks for joining us. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. we expect to hear from president trump on the coronavirus pandemic. >> first the local headlines. two new cases have been announced in santa cruz county. there are three new cases in santa clara county. the cdc issued strict recommendations designed to reduce the risk of new. >> banning events of more than 1,000 people to stop the spread of the virus. the most important thing at this time is public health. the warriors will play tomorrow's game at chase center in an empty arena. san francisco public schools are all remaining open. >> schools are essential service with multiple community benefits, and children have not been shown to be a high-risk group for serious imness at this time. >> about 1,000 passengers still need to disembark the "grand

princess" cruise ship which docked at the port of oakland monday with 21 confirmed coronavirus cases onboard. >> and president trump will be speaking in a special report momentarily. >> let's go now to abc and the president. this is an abc news special report. now reporting, george stephanopoulos. >> good evening. we're coming on the air because president trump is about to address the nation from the oval office on the coronavirus crisis. first reported in china, called a pandemic today by the world health organization. it's in 114 countries now. more than 125,000 cases and 4,600 deaths. italy's prime minister announcing a halt to